For Us, By Us: Stretching Sociology of Education and Research as a Practice of Freedom through Participatory Action Research with Black Teachers

Dr. Leana Cabral, Teachers College, Columbia University

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 1:30 PM to 2:30 PM EDT
Johnson Center, Meeting Room B

Working on a Participatory Action Research Project in partnership and deep collaboration with Black teachers has underscored how traditional qualitative research can be inadequate when it does not center and draw on the lived experiences and insight of community members and those closest to the question or issue at hand. PAR supports a practice of challenging old questions of legitimacy and scholarly gatekeeping of whose perspectives are counted as knowledge and whose are dismissed. For example, Black teachers' expertise has often been excluded from the research and policy processes though they are among the most important agents of change in schools. Through this presentation, I will discuss PAR and our project, its aims, challenges, and contributions to collective sensemaking and knowledge production on Black educators.